Catholic social weekly “Ład” and institutional transformation in Poland in 1988–1993. A contribution to the history of Polish Christian Democracy

Abstract

The article presents the history of the Catholic weekly “Ład” and the Christian Democrat circles gathered around it in 1988–1993. It presents the main ideological disputes of the Christian Democrats at the time of the political transformation, organizational transformations and their attitude to events on the political scene. The aim of the article is also to indicate the reasons for the defeat of the traditional Christian Democratic parties, which were unable to maintain their position on the political scene, as did the weekly “Ład”. The text argues that this was due both to objective reasons, which made it impossible for the parties referring to the interwar traditions to gain a strong position, and to the fragmentation of the Christian Democratic movement and the Polish right in general, as well as to the negative public perception of the Solidarity governments. “Ład” and the Christian Democrats proposed interesting political and economic solutions, but they were unable to take a clear position in the political conflict. Many of their ideas did not arouse public interest, while those that had the potential to become famous were “intercepted” by other parties. Therefore, the magazine and its milieu remained an interesting element of the history of Polish political thought, but due to the fact that the Polish political scene was determined by other issues they did not manage to break through with their moderate program.